Problems plague UMC's study of problems - United Methodist Church

Christian Century, Feb 2, 1994

The United Methodist Church is discovering that a four-year program to deal with declining membership is fraught with some of the same problems facing the church at large--a lack of money, charges of a lack of trust and wrangling among those involved. Because of those difficulties with the churchs Connectional Issues Study, a group of prominent conservative critics have scheduled their own closed-door session to map out a future for the 8.9-million-member body, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.

Most Popular Articles in Reference: The importance of understanding organizational culture; Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students; What factors attract foreign direct investment?; Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...; How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques; More »

The by-invitation-only meeting, set for April 5-6 in Atlanta, is being organized by Maxie Dunnam, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee; retired Bishop William Cannon of Atlanta; and Thomas Oden, a theologian at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. The meeting, according to a letter obtained by United Methodist News Service, will bring together "a group of concerned United Methodists who share a desire for renewal and reform within our church."

Organizers of the meeting are associated with the Memphis Declaration, a 1992 manifesto calling for a reduction in church bureaucracy, restoration of evangelistic emphasis, maintenance of the ban on ordination of homosexuals, and allocation of more power to the local church.

The turmoil within Methodism is representative of what is happening throughout mainline Protestantism as it faces declining membership %red revenues, suspicion of national bureaucracies, and controversial social issues-especially those linked to sexuality-that have led to conflicts within the denominations. It is precisely those issues that the UMC Connectional Issues Study seeks to address, with resulting recommendations for changes in church structure.

But the task force conducting the study has already lost its first chairman, who abruptly resigned after being "surprised and blind-sided" by criticism of the committees work by members of the UMC General Council on Ministries. The agency, based in Dayton, Ohio, coordinates church programs. That criticism, voiced at a ministries council meeting in November, charged the task force with being secretive and allowing only limited input from council members.

In early December the denominations chief fiscal agency, the General Council on Finance and Administration, refused a request from the General Council on Ministries for $200,000 to help finance the study. That forced a budgetary cutback of one-third and a scaling back of the study.

Meanwhile, conservatives planning the April gathering deny any intent to undercut the churchs formal study of its future. "A lot of us have concerns about the nature and ministry of the church, its structure, the role of the local church, the roles of the boards and agencies and [their] ministries," Dunnam told the church's official news agency. "We're just wanting to get together and discuss our concerns," he said.

Featured Download

Speak Like a CEO

Problems plague UMC's study of problems - United Methodist Church

Christian Century, Feb 2, 1994

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: News

Most Popular Articles in Reference

Most Popular Publications in Reference